Social justice is something many high schoolers don’t take into account, because most are still living with family and not out in the world yet. However, not all high schoolers turn a blind eye to the world around them. Owen Johnson and Sofia Mattson are just two of multiple students in a group at school known as the Social Justice Club.

Sofia states, “In our community we focus on the students and having conversations in school. Then we apply what we have learned from discussions and workshops in the community of Minneapolis”.

Unlike most other Social Justice Clubs that try to help with social justice issues in their immediate community the one at the high school tries to expand their reach to help communities and schools less fortunate than theirs. They had recently been at a rally to help a school in Minneapolis to show it’s support for its students to stop having the students get trapped in the cycle of bad habits that could have lead them to worse places after high school.

“We recently held a workshop”, says Owen. “About critiquing the education system, and looking at why some of these kids don’t have a fair advantage or time in school, and how it can alienate people”.

It is too often that people rely solely on mainstream news media which has been known to twist or distort the actual story in favor of  their own political agenda. The SJC tries to pull back those political blinders by going to the events themselves. This is so they can experience the injustice first hand themselves and formulate a plan on how they can help make a difference from a less biased perspective.

Sofia elaborates, “We don’t get to see the other side of the story very much … What we get here is only through a media perspective. I don’t think people are actually going out and witnessing the social justice issues now”.

Owen continues, “We have moved past learning and educating ourselves. Now we are trying to get out and take direct action”.

One issue they continue to struggle with is not being affiliated with any outside business or government organization. Some social justice clubs have fallen into these traps which then “help” them make their decisions about what and who to support for issues which would make what they are fighting for less credible. The social justice club at school stays away from any outside factors to be able to stand in firm solidarity with their causes.

“Once we are tethered to an external force we are going to be limited to what they say we should do”, says Owen, “I want people to understand there are more than one institution that are the problem”

Today Social Injustices are everywhere. Some people turn a blind eye to it while still knowing it is there, others ignore it completely. The students in the social justice club will stand for it no longer, and are willing to do something about it. However, the acknowledgment of a problem comes first.

Owen states, “We understand that cutting one branch off a dead tree won’t change anything”.